Saint Athanasia of Aegina (c.790 in
Aegina
Aegina (; el, Αίγινα, ''Aígina'' ; grc, Αἴγῑνα) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina (mythology), Aegina, the mother of the hero Aeacus, who was born ...
– 14 August 860 in Timia,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
) was a saint who worked in the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
and was for a while adviser to the Empress
Theodora II
Theodora (Greek: Θεοδώρα; 815 – c. 867), sometimes called Theodora the Armenian or Theodora the Blessed, was Byzantine empress as the wife of Byzantine emperor Theophilos from 830 to 842 and regent for the couple's young son Michael ...
.
She served as an abbess and was known for her miraculous healing of the sick and those seen as possessed.
Life
The life of St. Athanasia is contained only in a
vitae which is found in the manuscript ''Vaticanus Graecus 1660'' of 916 CE. The author is unknown. However, scholars believe it was most likely a man, due to the masculine tenses found in the piece, and that it was written soon after St. Athanasia's death.
St. Athanasia was the daughter of Christian nobles, Niketas and Irene, and experienced the mystical union of a star merging with her heart while weaving at the loom when she was a young girl. She wanted a spiritual life, but an imperial edict required all single women of marriageable age to marry soldiers. At 16 years old, at her parents urging, she complied and married a young officer. Sixteen days after her wedding, her husband was killed in a battle with raiding Arabs. She again married, this time to a deeply religious man who wished to become a monk and left to do so with her blessing.
St. Athanasia then gave away the bulk of her possessions, converted their home into a convent, and began building churches. She served as an
abbess
An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey.
Description
In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic ...
and was known for her miraculous healing of the sick and those seen as possessed. Her community later moved to Timia near the ancient church of
Stephen the Protomartyr. Here crowds flocked to see her. As her fame grew, she moved to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
seeking solitude as an
anchoress in a cell for seven years. While walled away, she was an adviser to the Empress Theodora II. After seven years, she returned to Aegina where she died of natural causes three days later at Timia on 14 August 860.
Her relics are preserved at Timia in a specially made
reliquary
A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it i ...
, and they are revered for their reputed healing powers.
Romani people
Contemporary scholars have suggested that one of the first written references to the
Romani people
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...
, under the term "Atsinganoi" (Greek), dates from the Byzantine era during a time of famine in the 9th century. In 800 CE, St. Athanasia gave food to "foreigners called the Atsinganoi" near
Thrace
Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...
.
See also
*
Saint Athanasia of Aegina, patron saint archive
References
External links
Saints Index at SQPNa multimedia organization specializing in the production of audio and video programs faithful to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Accessed August 2008.
Holy Women of Byzantium: Ten Saints’ Lives in English TranslationEdited by Elizabeth Mary Talbot, Published by Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, (1996) Washington, D.C.
University of Kentucky. Accessed August 2008.
Santiebeati
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athanasia Of Aegina
8th-century births
860 deaths
9th-century Christian saints
Saints of medieval Greece
9th-century Byzantine people
People from Aegina
Miracle workers